Isolation requirements for the NWT are expected to loosen now that Canada has met the NWT’s vaccination and seven-day new case average targets for Covid-19.
All that has to happen now is for the NWT’s chief public health officer to officially change the isolation rules, and then fully vaccinated people can skip isolating after travel, while isolation times will be shortened for partially and non-vaccinated residents.
The seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases had to dip below 1,000 before isolation restrictions could change in the NWT under the territory’s Emerging Wisely plan, which guides the reopening. On June 20, that number finally dipped to 929.
The last time the average was below 1,000 was on September 20, 2020, when Canada was averaging 999 new cases over a week.
Advertisement.
Advertisement.
The second criteria for the rules to change was that Canada’s adult partial vaccination rate needed to surpass 66 percent, which was accomplished by the country on June 5.
Global News is reporting Canada has now fully vaccinated 20 percent of people over the age of 12, while 75 percent are partially vaccinated. A Covid-19 vaccine has not yet been approved for children under 12, but it is expected by the late summer to early fall.
When the restrictions officially loosen, people who travelled outside of the territory who are partially vaccinated – meaning they have one dose of the two-shot Covid-19 vaccine or are in the two-week waiting period after their second dose before they are considered fully vaccinated – will only have to isolate with their household for eight days and receive a negative Covid-19 test on day eight before they can leave isolation.
People unvaccinated, including children under 12, who travel will have to isolate with their households for for 10 days and then receive a negative Covid-19 test on day 10 – down from a 14-day isolation – after they reenter the NWT.
